This is interesting, and now I have a new book on my reading list. Yay!
But I think that the author's solution is superficial; it would be fine if nobody approached higher education itself with external motivators. But degrees are often a first-pass screen on a path to high-paying jobs which usually involve a certain amount of responsibility. They need to vouch for a certain level of competence in a subject area, otherwise what's the point? If you take grades and tests out of universities and just hand out degrees for participation, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having them in the first place?
In a nutshell, if we followed this author's advice and depended on the students developing an intrinsic motivation for learning, people with the external motivation of making money would not be deterred - if anything they would be encouraged. So I think this author misses the context that higher education exists in.
But I think that the author's solution is superficial; it would be fine if nobody approached higher education itself with external motivators. But degrees are often a first-pass screen on a path to high-paying jobs which usually involve a certain amount of responsibility. They need to vouch for a certain level of competence in a subject area, otherwise what's the point? If you take grades and tests out of universities and just hand out degrees for participation, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having them in the first place?
In a nutshell, if we followed this author's advice and depended on the students developing an intrinsic motivation for learning, people with the external motivation of making money would not be deterred - if anything they would be encouraged. So I think this author misses the context that higher education exists in.